Demand for the iPhone 5s appears to be outstripping supply, as shipping times for the high-end iPhone have slipped to seven to ten business days at Apple's online store, while the gold model appears to be completely out of stock.

In Apple's online store, all models of the silver and space gray models of the iPhone 5s are listed with shipping times of between seven and ten business days. The shipping delay applies across AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, and contract-free models.

The gold iPhone 5s variant, however, appears to be completely out of stock for the time being. Apple's store lists all configurations of all models of the device as available to ship in October. Apple has confirmed the sell-outs in a statement.

"Demand for the new iPhones has been incredible," an Apple representative toldAllThingsD on Friday, "and we are currently sold out or have limited supply of certain iPhone 5s models in some stores.

After months of speculation, hype, and anticipation, the newest generation of Apple's bestselling smartphone debuted on Friday to massive crowds at physical retail locations and an equally enthusiastic response online. The apparent quick exhaustion of 5s supplies may stem from low production yields of the device, those possibly driven by difficulties in producing the Touch ID fingerprint sensor Apple built into it.

Supplies of the polycarbonate-backed iPhone 5c, however, appear to be greater. That device, which is essentially a slightly upgraded iPhone 5 in a new casing, is listed as shipping in one to three business days.

I wonder when they'll release it to the 2nd batch of countries, with NL always being in that 2nd batch. Last year they released it beginning October, shipping at the end of that month. That might be the same batch from the factories for the people ordering now but out of stock.

As I couldn't make it to Germany today (or Lille, FR for that matter) I'm too late anyway and hope to get one from that 2nd batch.

I feel like I had a "bait and Switch" done to me by Apple, so disingenuous. When I ordered my Black 64 G iPhone 5s online through Apple it showed shipping in 1-3 days, however, when my confirmation email arrived from Apple it now shows 7-10 days.

This really tics me off as I stayed up until midnight to but in one of their First orders. Don't fine Apple very Honest to be doing this!

I think I'll wait until the first buyers comment on how the TouchID works for them. I dont want to see an AppleMaps fiasco.

Every tech writer that has tried it reports it works every time, reliably. Of course some poor sot with weird body chemistry, screwball skin issues, is going to report that it doesn't work for him. No matter what feature there will be those who don't get it, can't use it, don't want it, and they will start websites shouting their displeasure to the world. The Internet lets a minority pretend they are the majority.

I feel like I had a "bait and Switch" done to me by Apple, so disingenuous. When I ordered my Black 64 G iPhone 5s online through Apple it showed shipping in 1-3 days, however, when my confirmation email arrived from Apple it now shows 7-10 days.

This really tics me off as I stayed up until midnight to but in one of their First orders. Don't fine Apple very Honest to be doing this!

Cancel your order, buy a Galaxy S4, and go away. Nobody has any sympathy for you.

Cancel your order, buy a Galaxy S4, and go away. Nobody has any sympathy for you.

Lol! There is a finite moment where current stock is completely ordered, and the ship time jumps - he was just one of the unlucky few to place an order at that moment ... I guess it's better for people to be upset they have to wait to get their hands on your product than for there to be little demand and no complaints about wait time.

I feel like I had a "bait and Switch" done to me by Apple, so disingenuous. When I ordered my Black 64 G iPhone 5s online through Apple it showed shipping in 1-3 days, however, when my confirmation email arrived from Apple it now shows 7-10 days.

This really tics me off as I stayed up until midnight to but in one of their First orders. Don't fine Apple very Honest to be doing this!

No bait and switch. Apple said shipping (they give it to FedEx) in 1-3 days. Your letter shows delivers in 7-10 days which is about right for something coming from China via FedEx. My experience has been arrival in 5 days after they ship.

I feel like I had a "bait and Switch" done to me by Apple, so disingenuous. When I ordered my Black 64 G iPhone 5s online through Apple it showed shipping in 1-3 days, however, when my confirmation email arrived from Apple it now shows 7-10 days.

This really tics me off as I stayed up until midnight to but in one of their First orders. Don't fine Apple very Honest to be doing this!

The same exact thing happened to me.

But it is not a bait and switch.

What happens is at the time you placed the order for the phone as in… Selected the phone model you wanted...It was 1 to 3 days for shipping.

Then you going through all the other things… Cases… AppleCare… And other options to select.

By the time that you finished selecting those options all the sales for the gold iPhone you wanted have been completed for the first batch… Hence being changed 7 to 10 days.

So they were honest with you… It just so happens that by the time you finished… And I finished selecting our options and placing the order… They were sold out of 1-3 day shipping

I got 7-10 days ready to ship, just a few minutes after midnight. 64 Gold. Expect to receive by Oct-10. I was more disappointed by no local pickup available. It is what it is. At least it will be on next months CC bill.

I think I'll wait until the first buyers comment on how the TouchID works for them. I dont want to see an AppleMaps fiasco.

It's insanely fast. As in, under 600 milliseconds (many times ~400) for thumbprints. It's closer to 8 or 900 for other fingers, but always faster than typing in a password. It also is very effective. I got a Space Grey 64GB unlocked since they were all out of other colors.

It's insanely fast. As in, under 600 milliseconds (many times ~400) for thumbprints. It's closer to 8 or 900 for other fingers, but always faster than typing in a password. It also is very effective. I got a Space Grey 64GB unlocked since they were all out of other colors.

That's been my experience as well. I was actually shocked at how fast it reads the print and unlocks the phone. I registered my wife's thumbprint and went to show her how to open it and very lightly touched my thumb to the sensor and it unlocked and opened immediately.

As for ordering, I placed an order at 12:01 with AT&T where it said 7-10 days. I got the confirmation this morning at 8:45 from them which showed it with a delivery window of October 20 - 31st (WTF, AT&T?). I called the local AT&T store and they had plenty of stock when I got there at 9:30 (at least of the 32's and 64's--only a few 16s left, but i was after a 32 anyway) but only in black. Process only took about 35 minutes including waiting in line, canceling my earlier order, and doing a cross upgrade for the phone.

Basically, in person it's more of a gold hue, than actually gold colored. At some angles it looks indistinguishable from the silver. It's very fine, and very nice.

I haven't seen any of them in person, and I wasn't making a value judgement. I was referring to the repeated delays that plagued the launch of the white iPhone 4 for months after the black one launched.

From reports it looks like the 5s is outselling the 5c, at least in the US. So much for all those analysts who said the higher price model wouldn't sell. Now I see them backtracking and saying the 5c is doomed. Wait until we get real reports from countries who can only manage the cost of the 5c. They will sell just fine.

I haven't seen any of them in person, and I wasn't making a value judgement. I was referring to the repeated delays that plagued the launch of the white iPhone 4 for months after the black one launched.

Gold anodization is among the easiest color to achieve, while having this white paint behind the glass of the 4 seemed to cause them problems. They can quickly readjust their casing production to match the unexpected demand for the gold model.

The CPU/Touch ID is probably more of the culprit than the gold casing.

Didn't wake up in the middle of the night to pre-order like a lunatic. Didn't camp out of the store or line up before they opened like a lunatic.

Went to the kiosk at the mall during my lunch hour. Took 15 minutes.

Why is this so hard for everyone else?

i say you got lucky then, but its also the hype and reports of carriers not getting very many and so on. There was 200 or so people outside of our apple store, I ordered mine online because it makes sense for me, I will get it at work in probably a week and that's fine for me, versus calling att and apple seeing what they have in stock and all that.

Well count me in as one waiting for a gold iPhone 5s 64GB. I wanted a larger display but I can live with 4" one more year and all the other goodies on the update as well as the Apple quality, ecosystem, etc.. kept me loyal.

I was up at 3AM and needed to order from Sprint.com and not Apple since I have a special grandfathered plan that means I can't buy from Apple or any other 3rd party retailer and keep my plan since it is not in their system. I was finally was able to complete my order at 3:40AM my time. If I had known then I might be waiting for weeks or maybe even a month I would have just went with the space gray instead. Maybe I was a lucky one since I had to be among the very first to order from Sprint so I might get mine a lot sooner.

I picked up a 64G Gray 5S this morning in Davis at the AT&T store. The line was perhaps 80 people at opening. They were handing out papers that represented the phones in stock. They ran out of 16G at the front of the line - looks like they only had a few. When they had given "reservation" sheets to everyone in the line there were still stacks of about 0.5 cm (32G) and 1.5 cm (64G) left for anyone who came later. Probably more than 20 32G and more than 60 64G still available for those still not in line at 9 AM. Interestingly, they appeared to only have gray color for the 5S - no silver or gold at all! They did not do reservations for 5C as they said they had "lots" of all colors and capacities.

I checked ordering last night just for interest. At 12:02 it listed 1 - 3 days for all 64G colors. At 12:07 it listed 7-10 days for all colors (for AT&T)!

Print sensor works very poorly with my right thumb. One in ten hits works!! I even did two separate scans for it. For index finger works better, but still requires me to input a code about one in three opening attempts (that's three tries each attempt before it goes to the code input). So far my experience does not mirror the pundits!